Tuesday, October 1, 2013

ANSWER !!!!! Why Are Owls Able to Spin Their Heads Almost All the Way Around?

I've always thought it was interesting how owls can rotate their heads almost a full 360 degrees. It never really occurred to me why they did that, though. The obvious answer is that they do so to look around in case of danger/predators, however, why can't they just look around with their eyes?! I found that this is because their eyes do not have enough muscles to look around in different directions. Over evolution, owls have developed 14 bones in their neck (compared to 7 in a human's) to make up for their lack of eye movement. Without this strange mechanism, owls could have been killed off long ago if it weren't for their rotating necks and the work of evolution.

 Bibliography:

 http://www.whyzz.com/why-can-owls-turns-their-heads-so-far-around

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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 1, 2013 at 3:09 PM

    Since they are nocturnal, I didn't see why they would need to turn their head all around. But now i know. :)

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  2. AdibaOctober 1, 2013 at 3:19 PM

    Awesome! It also makes them kind of freaky haha, but unique nontheless.

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  3. moeizeOctober 1, 2013 at 3:22 PM

    Don't they use echo-location as well?

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  4. UnknownOctober 1, 2013 at 3:33 PM

    Mind blown.....

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  5. Ms. PhillipsOctober 1, 2013 at 9:51 PM

    Good info Raaj - it is interesting that the neck is what evolved and not the eyes - that definitely makes owls unique. And it makes them more "fit" in their environment. Oh nature, you are awesome.

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